Wounds. Broken places. Possibility. Change. Steps toward holiness. Imperfect progress. The hurt in those who hurt me---their underbellies. Grace. Love. Me looking alot more like Jesus than I did before. And to discover through all this seeing---being unglued isn't all that bad.

On the other side of pain, there is still love.

The answer has something to do with love. Love that has to go through darkness and pain and endurance and a stark acceptance before it can come out into the far light of the sun.

Why is it, she wondered, that things that hurt people make them deeper and more understanding?

Maybe if you aren't unhappy sometimes you don't know how to be happy.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Life at best is a precarious business, and we aren't told that difficult or painful things won't happen, just that it matters. It matters not just to us but to the entire universe.

The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That's real glory. Thats the essence of it.

The roots of the abundant life may seem bitter, but its fruits are sweet.

Only when your love of roses is greater than your fear of thorns can you grow a beautiful garden.

Present tears water the gardens of future blessings.

Pain in the wilderness is an investment in pleasure in the Promised Land.